Drunk driver jailed for deaths

A drunk driver who had at least six pints of strong lager before killing two women on the A27 has been jailed.

Ryan Dowling, 29, of Woolmer Street, Emsworth, was jailed for more than eight years after pleading guilty to death by dangerous driving on February 27 last year.

Gillian Casey, 75, and 80-year-old Elizabeth Wales were both killed in the crash near Woodmancote and another woman was seriously injured.

Following the sentencing on Friday (July 2), the family of Mrs Casey said: “It is distressing to think that Dowling received a sentence of only eight-and-a-half years and is likely to be released on licence after having served only half of it.

“Such a sentence seems woefully inadequate for his inexcusable and utterly selfish conduct causing the deaths of two innocent women and seriously injuring a third.”

The family of a pensioner who was tragically killed by a drunk driver last year have called for tougher sentencing.

The Casey family said: “Gill was a wonderful person who dedicated her life to her family and to the countless children she taught in her job as a primary school teacher.

“That such a gentle and loving person was taken from us by such senseless acts of utter recklessness is extremely difficult to take.

“It is distressing to think that Dowling received a sentence of only eight-anda-half years and is likely to be released on licence after having served only half of it. Such a sentence seems woefully inadequate for his inexcusable and utterly selfish conduct causing the deaths of two innocent women and seriously injuring a third.

“As a family, we welcome the proposals contained in the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill to give judges the power to impose life sentences for

death by dangerous driving.”